For the past half-decade or so, the San Diego Padres have become buyers at the MLB trade deadline. 

And, as long as AJ Preller is in the GM chair at Petco Park, that figures to remain the case. Last year, San Diego struck gold by adding superstar closer Mason Miller, although it cost top prospect Leo De Vries. 

The Padres also added Ramon Laureano and Ryan O'Hearn to add some depth to the lineup. 

In previous years, some trade acquisitions the Padres landed included Jason Adam and Juan Soto, so why would Preller sit around this time and be quiet? 

With the deadline two months away, ESPN's Jeff Passan had new intel for all 30 teams. For the Padres, he placed them in the "acquirers" category, although he thinks they might be better off in another category due to the poor offense. 

Nonetheless, Passan named the best fit for the Padres to be Detroit Tigers star pitcher Tarik Skubal, who won the American League Cy Young award in 2025. 

The Padres need to add starting pitcher urgently, especially with Nick Pivetta out for a few months after making a handful of starts, and with no firm idea on Joe Musgrove, who was set to return from Tommy John before suffering a setback during spring training. 

Walker Buehler has pitched surprisingly well, and Lucas Giolito has looked ok in a few starts since signing with the Padres. Randy Vasquez and Michael King have been the top pitchers in the rotation. 

But, at the end of the day, a rotation like that will not be able to compete with any of the Los Angeles Dodgers or Atlanta Braves come playoff time. 

"If neither is able to contribute, that puts even more of an onus on president of baseball operations A.J. Preller, who has rebuilt his farm system enough to make the kind of trade that can keep San Diego on its current path: toward a postseason run," Passan said while discussing the injuries to Pivetta and Musgrove. 

In theory, the Padres' acquiring Skubal would allow them to make a strong playoff push. Would it cost some big-name prospects? Of course, and fans are crossing their fingers hoping that star catcher Ethan Salas isn't a part of that package. 

On the other hand, Skubal is a rental, and even adding a Cy Young pitcher such as Skubal won't make much of a difference with the offense currently the worst in baseball. 

Unless Jackson Merrill, Manny Machado and others start hitting, nothing will really matter, even if Skubal is wearing a Padres uniform come August.